Clint Eastwood: Breezy (1973) dvd

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Breezy is a 1973 American romantic drama film directed by Clint Eastwood, produced by Robert Daley, and written by Jo Heims. The film stars William Holden and Kay Lenz, with Roger C. Carmel, Marj Dusay, and Joan Hotchkis in supporting roles. It is the third film directed by Eastwood and the first without him starring in it.

”Howard Thompson of The New York Times wrote, "A cloyingly naive resolution mars 'Breezy,' which opened yesterday, an otherwise engrossing drama of an aging man's infatuation with a tender-hearted 17-year-old girl derelict."[8] Gene Siskel of the Chicago Tribune gave the film 3 stars out of 4 and wrote, "Screenwriter Jo Heims has fashioned a formula May–September love affair into a surprisingly tender and frequently witty romance in which an older man is realistically transformed by a much younger woman ... 'Breezy' frequently threatens to collapse into a stereotypical characterization, but Holden's refreshing honesty invariably revitalizes the action. In the title role, newcomer Kay Lenz is sincere, often believable, and rarely maudlin."[9]Arthur D. Murphy of Variety called it "an okay contemporary drama" with "perhaps too much ironic, wry or broad humor for solid impact."[10]Kevin Thomas of the Los Angeles Times wrote of Eastwood that Breezy was "a deeply felt, fully realized film that is entirely his own. It's an offbeat love story told with rare delicacy and perception that affords William Holden his most fully dimensioned role in years and introduces a smashing newcomer named Kay Lenz."[11]

The film opened at the Columbia II theater in New York City on November 18, 1973, but flopped, grossing only $16,099 in four weeks and 5 days.[12] Early unfavorable reviews and the poor performance caused the studio to shelve the film. It then underwent some minor re-editing and was test released in Utah in 39 theaters on July 3, 1974, on a four wall distribution basis for two weeks.[12][13] The results were positive, so Universal expanded the four wall distribution policy[clarification needed] to the Portland and Seattleareas.[13] During 1974, Variety tracked it grossing $140,289 in 20-24 key cities in the United States and Canada, placing it 301st on the list of their films tracked for the year,[14] which with its gross from New York in 1973, gave it a gross of at least $156,388. Eastwood thought Universal had decided the film was going to fail long before it was released. He said "the public stayed away from it because it wasn't promoted enough, and it was sold in an uninteresting fashion".[15] Some critics, including Eastwood's biographer Richard Schickel, believed that the sexual content of the film and love scenes were too soft to be memorable for such a potentially scandalous relationship between Harmon and Breezy, commenting that, "it is not a sexy movie. Once again, Eastwood was too polite in his eroticism." However, Schickel claimed that Breezy managed to recoup its low budget.”